this afternoon, house speaker john boehner sketched out the g.o.p. proposal in a letter to the white house, and the proposal borrows suggestions from the president's own debt reduction commission, whose plan was ignored last year. the republican letter offered $900 billion in spending cuts from program reforms to medicare and social security. the g.o.p. plan would raise $800 billion in revenues by closing loop-holes and reforming the tax code, but stops short of specifics. noticeably missing: the higher taxes on high-wage earners which president obama has insisted on. the white house responded, saying "the g.o.p. proposal does not meet the test of balance. in fact, it actually promises to lower rates for the wealthy and sticks the middle class with the bill." it's not just the federal government under pressure. credit ratings agency fitch calls the fiscal cliff the biggest concern for state credit in 2013. saying, "any meaningful federal deficit reduction is likely to lower state funding, forcing program elimination or backfilling." as the tax hikes